Robuchon rehabilitated the simple milk-spud-butter mix in the 1980s, at a time when most chefs looked on it with disdain, and, as he later recalled, “there were only packets of Mousseline (an instant mash mix) to be found in French homes”.

“He realised early on that if you give people potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes, they’ll be eternally grateful, forever fulfilled,” food author Patricia Wells wrote in her 1991 book on Robuchon’s cooking.

The New York Times published the recipe and it went on to become a global sensation.

Robuchon served his mashed potatoes without any fanfare in a cocotte, much like the one here. Photo: VisualHunt/chooyutshin

Here it is, in 10 steps, as described by Robuchon in the French TV programme “Cuisinez comme un Grand Chef”:

1. Use 1kg of potatoes, approximately the same size. Do not peel them. (Robuchon used the ratte variety).

2. Wash the potatoes and cover them with water, adding an extra 2-3cm on top.

3. Add 10g of salt per litre of water.

4. Bring the potatoes to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Prick a potato with the tip of a knife and try lifting it up. If it falls off it’s cooked.

5. Peel the potatoes while still hot and put them through a vegetable mill. Do not use a blender as it makes the mash sticky.

6. Add a drop of water to a saucepan and then pour in 20-30 centilitres of full-cream milk. Bring the milk to a boil.

7. Over a low heat, add 250g of cold butter, cut into lumps, to the potato mix, little by little.

8. Add the milk slowly.

9. Mix first with a wooden spoon. When the mix gets softer, use a whisk.

10. To make the mix even finer, put it through a sieve.

And to quote Robuchon’s sign-off in his TV food show which ran from 2000 to 2009: “Bon appétit bien sûr!” – AFP